Archive for June, 2011

We’re not looking for the most “technical” athlete at PipeHitters.Push, Pull, Carry, Move Weight
Raw power and a motor to dish it up are the only requirements for this year’s competition. Any athlete with the grit to drive against weight is welcomed to compete.

We are relocating from the park this year: SODO Crossfit will be hosting our event with CFWS supplying extra equipment. So if you’re ready to slug it out in the Seattle industrial area, register as soon as possible because we will only be taking the first 30 men and 30 women. Details and registration can be found here.

I saw a number of things in Russia that left an impression on me. One of which was this set by World Champion Denis Vasiliev.

Yes, Denis is using 40kg Bells, which is sick. Yes, Denis was one of the first athletes to utilize 40kg Bells in their training, which is sick.

But what was truly sick about this demo isn’t in the video. Denis had WON the European championship in the the Long Cycle with 96 reps using 32kg Bells The NIGHT before this video. He then drove hours to make the last day of our training camp and put on this demo.

If you frequent Old Country you’re probably used to the comment boards here and on the Iron Club’s Training Log. And if you’re familiar with those areas then you may also be familiar with this individual.

PaulisDrunk…

This here cowboy is Paul M*****al(Name protected because Paul claims he “works” as a firefighter). Paul is an old personal friend of mine as well as one mouthy, cocky, arrogant son of a bitch.

If you can’t tell this is a Roast, Paul’s turning ** this saturday(age protected cause he probably lied to get his “job” that he “works so hard at”) and I’m opening the comment section to anyone who has anything they’d like to say to Paul or suggest for his birthday workout this Saturday. Remember he loves doubleunders.

At 7:45 in the middle of a concert I received a text from Z asking to put a post up. No big deal, I mean I would just watch the rest of the concert, drive home from downtown, and write a post. As I sat there listening to the music I pondered what to write about. And like that I remembered a conversation me and Z had earlier that day concerning Conan and this rambling post about that heated discussion followed.

It started off with me and Z talking about Games of Thrones (awesome TV show, even more awesome books (yes I do love being able to plug reading on OCS)). Anyway one of the characters is Khal Drogo played by Jason Momoa and he is a bad dude (this clip is not for the faint of heart).

Fatality. Jason Momoa besides being a badass in one mythical fantasy world (Westeros) is also the new Conan and this is where the story picks up. Z stated he was kinda disappointed that he discovered that Conan was Middle Eastern. I stated that to be hog wash and demanded his reasoning. His reasoning Jason Momoa is not white, he watched the new show Spartacus and that there were two people from Conan’s tribe and they looked Middle Eastern and that he had also seen a Bully Beatdown where the Bully had stated he was from the same land as the Barbarian and he looked Middle Eastern. I continue to give Z a puzzled look when I decided I had to destroy his world.

“Z, Conan is from Cimmeria, it’s a made up land in a made up world. Robert Howard drew his inspiration from real life civilizations but it is not real”

“No Nickay, its real, these guys are Sumerian”

“Wait, are they Sumerian because thats different than Cimmerian”

“How so?”

“Well Sumerians lived in the Mesopotamian valley and were Middle Eastern, Cimmerians are descended from Atlanteans (yes Atlantis dwellers) and live on the Thurian Continent which again does not exist”

“No we have to look this up”

This needed to be solved and where else would one look, Wikipedia. Fortunately good ole Wikipedia proved me right to an extent, Cimmeria is a mythical place based off the real Cimmerians but they lived in Russia/Urkaine, not the Middle East. Awesome, I love being mostly right which is almost as awesome the new Conan trailer

The 7th Edition of Caliber Cycle kicks of today and we will be joined again by one of our friends from over the border.

Jean-Paul who posts under Csubi from Crossfit North Vancouver will again toe the line this go round. JP was in our 5th Edition Cycle and saw some huge gains in his volume squatting. The video below is Csubi going for a new 20rm after the completion of that Cycle. Get Some…

Viking or Victim, who’s ready to bang it out for 6 weeks, find the program starting tomorrow on the IRON CLUB Training Log.

The title of todays post couldn’t be truer, Coach Jeff told me this once before. I like to think he thinks my intensity is a good thing. That the times I’ve worked out around him and he’s just smiled and shook his head were a good thing. I like to think Coach can probably just see my love of the Iron game. It’s more likely that he can recognize that kamikaze look in my eye though.

Lets back track almost two months. I had just finished WOD 2 in the Crossfit Games online Open two days before, and I wanted to lift, you guys might remember the article I’m talking about. Well I had an ugly miss on a three wheel clean and felt lucky that I still had my left hand attached. I told myself it was just a nasty sprain and to MANUP and keep competing. Well as of 3 o’clock today come to find out I was very wrong.

I knew something was wrong, but I wasn’t gonna admit it to myself and certainly not to anyone around me. To steal a line from Jerry Macquire, “Heart!?! Motha Fucka I’m all Heart!!!”

Well sometimes being tough just makes you stupid. Come to find out from my doctor today that my wrist is and has been broken.

Let’s have a recap of what I’ve decide to do to myself since my injury more then two months ago.

I finished the Open. During that competition I almost got 32 reps on the clean and jerk workout a week after the break and had a strong showing in the thruster, chest to bar pullup workout. I was involved in a three week Olympic lifting Bulgarian style program. I hit 230 or above on the snatch in 6 lifting session and hit more 200+ snatches then I care to think about. I traveled to Russia and became a certified KettleBell sport Coach. There were 5 long training days and I competed on a relay team at the camp where I long cycled 30 reps in two minutes. I competed as a member of my affiliate team at the Crossfit Games Northwest Regional qualifier. I hit 235 on the thruster ladder and was on a team that qualified for the third day of competition.

Cool huh?

No not really. Tough? Yes. Stupid? Very.

Lets talk about what I really did to myself in that time.

I finished the Open. I willingly invited myself to further my injury to a point where I could need surgery. I was involved in a three week Olympic lifting Bulgarian style program. I made the choice that 3 weeks of training was more important than setting the example to “Rest.” I traveled to Russia and became a certified KettleBell sport Coach. I almost ruined a once in a lifetime opportunity to train abroad because I was too stupid to sit things out. I competed as a member of my affiliate team at the Crossfit Games Northwest regional qualifier. This one will stick with me for awhile. I forced my friends and family to watch me gut through 20 minutes of hell when my wrist went out on day three.

When I look at this in the right light I realize something. I was stupid. I’m tough, I have heart, I’m proud of that. But it’s not the example I want to set. Injuries are injuries, they happen and there isn’t anything we can do but accept them. I didn’t accept mine and that’s a bit selfish. I would NEVER allow one of my athletes to compete like that. I would have had them pull out of the Open in the beginning, but I gritted my teeth and kept moving. Tough? Yes. Stupid? Extremely.

We all learn from our mistakes and I have learned from this one. When something feels wrong, chances are, somethings wrong. I never want to put my friends or family through what I made them sit and watch. I could have thrown in the towel but I didn’t. That’s not who I am. But I should have never risked what I did. I’ll learn from this and it will make me a better Coach.

My Dad came up to me after the last event at Regionals (he was the first one to, more so he was the only one who felt comfortable enough to) and said something that will stay with me.

“You know Zach, your brain and heart can only tell your body to do so much before the muscles and tendons stop listening.”

I just nodded my head, this is how my Dad and I communicate. I never wanted to believe that, but he was right. Something was wrong and my body had enough of me being stupid.

Tough? Yes. Stupid? More then I even care to admit.

I can only imagine Coach’s expression when I email him about this. Thanks to all my friends and family who supported me when I was to stubborn to listen.